Working in Publishing
As a MA publishing student at the renowned Oxford Brookes University I am often overwhelmed with an abundance of opportunities from incredibly prestigious guest speakers in our lectures to the promotion of freelance and internship work opportunities in our extensive weekly course newsletters. The latest installment in the saga of our invaluable lecturers grinding for us came in the form of a filled afternoon entitled ‘Working in Publishing’ which included over seventy professionals from a range of assistant to senior roles in various publishing companies across the country.
We were able to book a specific number of appointments each using a collaborative and monitored spreadsheet which stated the publishing houses each professional was from in addition to their role. These ranged from local literary agencies to large publishing houses such as Penguin and Hachette UK. There were no rules in regards to which people we signed up to as long as we abided the quantity limit set each day. The choices of role and publishing house were completely up to us. The only catch was, each meeting would be capped at just fifteen minutes so we had to be tactical with which questions we decided to ask each professional and also, some of the meetings would not be one to one if other people on the course also demonstrated an interest and were allocated to the same time slot.
For me personally, prior to and since beginning the course I have had a particular interest in marketing, publicity and rights roles. I think what draws me towards these departments is the creativity and fast paced nature of these pathways. As amazing as being bestowed the honour of reading early drafts of the manuscript would be, I fail to see myself feeling truly fulfilled long-term in an editorial role unless it is a senior commissioning editor at a trade publishing house. Big dreams, I know. My preconception of a book fair genuinely creates a buzz for my future. I imagine myself dressed with a corporate aesthetic, carrying sales material around me, sprinting from meeting to meeting with prospective clients every half an hour and I feel important. I guess it’s one of the biggest fears of everyone hoping to work in publishing, second only to never getting employed in industry; not feeling like your work is making an impact. I know I need a role that is expansive in terms of duties and has an element of spontaneity. By this I mean small details which could become issues to quickly resolve such as an author’s publicity event having a lower turnout than expected and needing to alter the event in a way which drums up the maximum amount of attention as possible. I am a problem solver and a bigger picture person who thrives meeting like-minded people and picking their brains.
Soon before the event began I was contacted by one of my lecturers who had organised the event saying they had noticed I am taking the rights module and there was a gap with a rights director at Hachette children's so I had been booked in for a one to one meeting with her. I was pretty nervous about what to ask her because it was my first meeting of the day and I was by myself with someone who had been in the industry for 20-30 years and is employed at the second largest publishing houses in the country. I also hadn't really considered children's publishing before, I adored well-known middle grade novels like Wonder and the Percy Jackson series but I felt a little like a fraud.
This actually ended up being one of my most positive experiences of the entire afternoon on Zoom dashing from meeting to meeting. I had to complete a lot of work in between appointments which gave me the feeling I imagine to have one day working in rights or PR. This professional was incredibly kind and chatted without a filter whilst simultaneously remaining admirably professional. She made the job sound as thrilling as I imagine it to be and graciously offered me to send her a copy of my CV. The day was going incredibly well so far. I was now very eager to learn more about children's publishing.
I was able to speak to more members of the Hachette UK children's team and I'd be lying if I said my wildest fantasy now wasn't joining that team of innovative, insightful and inspiring people.
This event was extremely positive for me as it confirmed the areas I thought I may be interested in/suited to in regards to my skills and personality are exactly the roles I still hope to see myself in one day. The afternoon has motivated me to keep working hard so that I will achieve these ambitions in the near future. Although the course can be challenging, especially with remote learning in this pandemic forbidding my course mates and I from seeing each other and thriving off the buzzing atmosphere I’m sure would have been present had this event been in person, it was an incredible afternoon nonetheless.
I will share the best piece of advice I received from these professionals which I will preface by saying that most of them actually told me this so it has really been drilled into me. This is the tip:
Be specific in terms of what you want career wise. Don’t say ‘Oh, I want to work in Trade publishing’ state the department, the role maybe even the publishing house. Be honest with what you want from yourself and you’ll find it more attainable to achieve’
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